Homestar Runner Rejects TV to Stay True to Web

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Homestar Runner Rejects TV to Stay True to Web

It seems like a foregone conclusion that the hit online animation Homestar Runner and his cartoon friends will end up alongside Meatwad, Space Ghost, Brock Sampson and the other pop culture icons on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim – a block of cartoons for grownups.

Unfortunately for this would-be marriage, the only people who think Homestar isn't quite right for Adult Swim are the character's creators, Matt and Mike Chapman.

"There was a brief flirtation with Comedy Central and Adult Swim," Matt said. "The whole TV thing seemed creepy. They wanted to plug it into their model – that all comedy was gag-related, not character-driven. They left the door open, but we liked what we were doing and kept doing it online."

With Time Warner's Cartoon Network and Adult Swim also headquartered in Atlanta, it seemed natural for Homestar to jump in with them. But a deal has failed to materialize, and the Chapmans are in no hurry to strike up conversations again.

"Being in Atlanta, we have friends that work there, but we're not waiting for a big reconciliation," Matt said. "What they do works for them, but if we were doing our show there, we’d still have producers telling us what to do, what to change, what to write, etc. We love the control and the immediacy that writing and creating cartoons on the website brings us. As the ideas come, we can do whatever our whim is that week."

Homestar Runner is so popular now that revenues generated by the site’s merchandise sales allow its creators to devote their professional lives to the cartoons.

The Chapmans created their first animated short featuring the goofy, armless Homestar Runner back in 2000, using Adobe Flash.

Homestar's online antics became a hit on the web, and the audience grew through word of mouth. The brief Flash cartoons were polished and full of dry, hip, postmodern humor. Supporting players like Strong Bad and The Poopsmith had star power drawn all over them.

Even though talks with Comedy Central and Cartoon Network faltered, the pair would still like to do TV in the future.

"We made those contacts," Matt said. "When we want to do something else, we would be interested in that business."